Aussies exit NSW, WA hits 3 million population milestone
Population data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week shows 28,118 people left NSW in 2024.
Western Australia tipped over three million people for the first time as the resource-rich state recorded the highest nationwide growth rate.
At the end of 2024, 27.4 million people called Australia home, an increase of 445,900 on the previous year and representative of a 1.7 per cent increase.
Commonwealth Bank economist Lucinda Jerogin said population growth had slowed quicker than anticipated on the back of the post-pandemic peak.
'A slowdown in natural increase continues to place a drag on Australia's population growth,' she said
'Cost-of-living pressures, rising female workforce participation and broader uncertainty are likely driving this downward trend.
'Growth in deaths are outpacing births leading to the decline in natural increase.'
The data shows NSW lost more than 28,000 people to net interstate migration, with 112,763 people leaving for elsewhere in the country.
Queensland picked up more than 106,000 people from other states for a result of nearly 26,000 fresh faces. Nearly 40,000 Aussies moved to WA for a net increase of about 12,500 people.
While Queensland and Victoria's total populations grew by 1.9 per cent, WA's grew 2.4 per cent. The population of every state and territory grew by at least 1.1 per cent, except Tasmania, which recorded a 0.3 per cent increase.
'Within Australia, people are continuing to leave NSW, and to a lesser extent Victoria and the smallest jurisdictions, and head into Queensland and WA,' Housing Industry Association economist Tom Devitt said.
'But even the jurisdictions losing residents interstate are absorbing enough overseas arrivals to see their populations expand.'
State governments needed to do more to stimulate housing construction, he said.
'Foreign capital is highly liquid. State governments have forced institutional investors into building apartments in other countries,' Mr Devitt said.
'As a consequence, multi-unit construction volumes in Australia have halved, likely costing state governments tax revenue.'
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